Waves Of Emotion
by misunderstoodcaller
Summary: John and his family spend part of their summer at a vacation house on the riverside. This year like many from the past are filled with joy and friendship. Dave Strider might just change the same old routine for John. Rating may change.
1. Chapter 1

The water was murkier than usual since the previous day had rained. Late spring was a beautiful time to be by the river at the Egbert Summer home. It was not too hot and not too cool. The water was still too chilly today to be swimming which caused John to sit on the dock rather than take a swim. The weather had not cleared up yet causing an overcast. John sighed looking out at the water. He loved the smell and the feeling of a slight breeze drift off the water. He wished the oncoming boats would leave so the water could turn back to its peaceful self. The dock rocked in the waves and he lay back looking at the sky. After a few minutes he had fallen asleep to the soft sounds of the riverside.

Mr. Egbert found his son napping on the dock in late afternoon. He shook his head and woke John by lightly tapping his shoulder.

"Huh? Oh hi dad" John said groggily as he sat up and rubbed his eyes. He figured he hadn't slept for more than 2 hours by see the sun setting.

"I'm making some dinner. Why don't you go wash up and set the table?" John nodded following his father off the dock to the large home.

The summer home was in the outskirts of a small town by the river. The two story house had red and ivory siding. The windows were medium size covered on the insides by curtains. It wasn't new but with some renovations the place look decent enough to be living in.

John walked into the breezeway kicking off his shoes. After washing off his hands he grabbed two plates from the kitchen with some silverware and set them on the table. Dad came in from the deck with a pan full of steaks and something wrapped in foil. He set it on the table unwrapped the foil to serve diced potatoes with mushrooms and red peppers. The smell enveloped the room causing John's stomach to growl. They ate their dinner causally talking about their plans for the summer.

It was their first night back in the house. They spent a little over a month of their summer here each year. Back when Mrs. Egbert was around she started the tradition of this vacation after John was born. They would invite cousins and other family over. After the second year Mrs. Egbert passed away from a horrible car crash. They still continued the tradition to this day for over 15 years.

Dinner came to an end. John and Dad cleaned up, said their good nights, and headed to their rooms. John grabbed his suitcase bringing it upstairs. His room hadn't changed since their last stay. The medium sized room was painted a light blue. It had a queen size bed with white sheets and comforter in one corner. There was a desk with a little lamp in another corner and a dresser in the other corner. The room also had two windows that faced the riverside. John had many memories of looking out those windows in the middle of the night when he couldn't sleep. He opened his suitcase and put his clothes in the dresser. After changing into some pjs, John brought his toiletries to the bathroom down the hall. He brushed his teeth and went back into his room. Once he was situated, John laid down thinking about the water. He finally let sleep take him from the night.

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**A/N:** Hello Guys! It's been some time. I'm so sorry for posting the first chapter of my last story and not finishing it.. I promise you that I will commit to writing this one. If you like the story and want to write a review I'd love to hear your feedback. I have the next chapter almost ready so it'll be up here in less than a day.


	2. Chapter 2

The house smelt of cakes and pancakes. Dad never failed to express his love for pastries of the sorts. John woke up frowning at the smell of the house. Deep down he hoped his dad would quit with his hobby for at least their time on vacation but he knew it wouldn't happen. After taking a quick shower and getting dressed into some swim trunks and a plain t-shirt, John made his way to the kitchen which was strangely empty. A note was on the table by a plate of warm pancakes. It read "IF YOU ARE READING THIS THAT MEANS YOU HAVE FINALLY WOKEN UP. GOOD MORNING SON. I JUST WENT OUT TO TALK TO SOME NEIGHBORS. HAVE FUN."

John ate his pancakes quickly then went out to the shed. With a bit of a tug on the door he was able to get in. John pulled out an old bike and got to cleaning off all the spider webs causing him to cringe. He hated spiders. They were so gross to him. Once done with that task, John hopped onto the bike and rode down the road into the small town.

The locally owned ice cream shop had been his favorite place to go to in the town so he locked his bike up to the bike rack and got in line. The people in front of him seemed pretty out of place. They wore jeans and one boy wore a long sleeve shirt. The older one, who was currently ordering his ice cream, had some funky shades just like the younger only his were much more normal. How could you take the two of them seriously? John rolled his eyes and continued to wait for them to finish ordering.

After god knows how long the two finished. John ordered a blueberry cheesecake double cone and sat at one of the tables. He caught out of the corner of his eye the younger boy staring at him from one of the other tables. He tried to pass it off but he caught him again only a few minutes later. He chuckled at the boy once he noticed that his ice cream was melting on his hand. The boy flipped out and cursed to himself. He got up and wiped his hands with a few napkins. John got up once he finished his cone. With much hesitation he walked up to the strange boys.

"Hey there! I'm John Egbert. You two must be new to town?" John sat at their table next the the younger boy. He wouldn't want to admit it but the other guy did look a bit imitating. The older one nodded and ate his shake silently.

The younger guy sighed. "Yeah we're new. The name's Strider. Dave Strider. This is Bro." He leaned next to John whispering, "Just call him Bro." John nodded and smiled.

"Well it's nice to meet you two." John kept a smile throughout their conversation. br / It had been awhile since he talked to anyone in town. It made him feel so cheerful and want to stay here forever. John realized he was spacing out a bit and blushed from the embarrassing episode. Dave waved a hand in front of John's face.

"Earth to John.."

This made him chuckle. "Oh my gosh! So sorry about that... I was just thinking since you guys are new to town and if want to hang out with anyone my house is a pretty cool place. It'll be a bit full in a few days since my cousin and their friends are coming over but it would be nice to see you guys around."

The brothers looked at each other. Bro spoke up first, "Is there going to be anyone my aged?"

John nodded. "Yeah! My cousin Jane is around your age. She's bringing her friend Roxy and Jake with her. They are all around your age." Bro smirked causing John to smile. "And don't worry Dave. There is my younger cousin, Jade, she is bringing her and my friend Rose so there will by more around our age as well." Dave was staring at John the whole time. He simply nodded at John.

The short silence was broke by Bro standing and clearing his throat. "If John here is inviting us to go hang out with him why not accept it. Since your cousins and what not aren't here yet I'll just stay behind. It'll give you two time to get all best bro like with each other." He wink and threw away his cup.

Dave covered his face. "God dammit Bro. Don't say shit like that." His voiced sounded so monotone but his actions showed so much more drama. This made John giggle and he stood as well.

"I live right down the street in the red and basically white house. I was going to go swimming for a bit. You want to join me Dave?"

Dave stood slowly and he was hesitant over his words. " uh. Sure man. Let me go get some trunks and I'll meet you here. It would make it easier to find your house if you show me. Anyway I only live a block away. "

John was so over joyed. "Okay! I'll wait here."

It had been only 15 minutes since the two walked off to their house but John was getting impatient waiting for Dave. How long does it take that guy to put on a damn pair of swimming trunks and walk back 1 block. It was balls hot out today and wanted to get in the water. John noticed Dave slowly walking back to the ice cream shop. First things first John was not a homosexual but damn did the color red look good on Dave. He was wearing a pair of red swim trunks and a black wife beater. His body looked so.. Toned. It's okay for a heterosexual guy to mentally comment or check out another guy, right?! John pushed those thoughts away as Dave walked up to him.

"Sorry I took so long. Bro had to.. Talk to me. Yeah."

"John shrugged. "It's alright! Want to get on the front? I can ride pretty easily with someone up front."

Dave furrowed his brows. "Okay man" Dave jumped on only wobbling a few times as John rode to his house.

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**A/N:**This chapter was a bit longer and I hope you guys enjoy it. If you'd like to give me any tips or help fix any problems I'd be more than happy to read what you have to say in the reviews.


	3. Chapter 3

Dave grew up with Bro as his protector and basic guardian since their parents neglected them horribly. The two could only take so much. After years of neglect the brothers decided to move away from the situation causing them to be in this small town up north. Bro didn't want the life they had before so with a bit of money from both of the boys savings they bought a small two bedroom house. Dave didn't mind the change but unpacking was balls boring. They had only been in town for one day so Bro took Dave out on a walk around town. There is a local docking area off of the river. Some small bars and houses are around it. The two meet a few of the locals. Bro was able to get a sweet deal as a bartender at one of the bars. This made Dave really bored so he started to walk back home, but Bro caught up to him.

"Whoa lil man. Don't go running off on me now." He nudged Dave's arm.

"Whatever." Dave just rolled his eyes. "God it's so fucking boring here bro."

Bro looked as though he was taken back by this comment pulling Dave to an ice cream shop. "You don't know who lives here yet. You know I'm just trying to help."

The ice cream shop was little. It only had room for people to order their ice cream outside. The place could only run during summer. It was Dave's turn to order, so he got a strawberry single scoop sugar cone. Even if it wasn't his favorite the place made some good ice cream. Bro had to be the biggest ass of all time by taste testing EVERY flavor they had. Dave sighed angrily. Giving up his act, Bro finally ordered a shake. The two sat down at an old picnic table by the shop. They had carved names and markings all over them. The seats and tabletop were smooth from years of use. Dave wondered why would anyone write something so lame as"pb 3s j". Like what kind of dumb ass would write that?

Dave ate his ice cream when something moved in his peripheral vision. It was a slightly tanned boy with black hair who sat alone at another table. He must be a local. Dave pulled his attention away from the kid when he looked back. Dave looked over at Bro who was smirking. Dave just passed it off and continued to lick his ice.

Bro found out a few years back that Dave was a closeted gay when he got his first secret boyfriend. Now all he does is tease the living shit out of his lil bro. It's just apart of the job. He caught Dave staring at that little hotty over there again. Shitty part is lil mans gotta learn a thing or two before he goes all head over heals for some stranger.

Dave paid more attention to the boy. His little quirks like pulling his hair back to cool down or chuckling at things most likely written in the table. Dave studied his choice in clothes. He looked like he was ready to jump into a pool. Or maybe the river. I mean there is one right over there. Dave had slightly zoned out and found the kid looking him straight in the eyes. Shit abort. Shit ice cream!

"Fucking dammit." Dave mumbled a few more curses as he stood and wiped off his hand with some napkins. The ice cream still stuck to his hand so he threw away the rest. Once back in his seat, Dave just glared at Bro who had a shit eating grin plastered to his face.

"Don't even" was all he said before that kid sat next to him. A silence fell on the Striders as the boy introduced himself. Bro didn't speak up but nodded at the boy, so Dave introduced the two of them. He mentally gave Bro the finger.

John seemed like a nice kid. He did zone out for a minute giving Dave the chance to embarrass him when getting his attention back to reality. The little blush that flooded his cheeks made Dave's stomach tie in knots and made him chuckle. He held back anymore slips for his own safety. Dave already knew what was going to happen when the two get back home.

John invited the Strider's over and explained to them about his family and friends. Dave and Bro froze when the heard that the Lalonde's where going to be there. At one point in time Dave and Bro's dad hooked up with Mom Lalonde. It gets shitty awkward at times when they try to contact the two.

After a short silence Bro stood clearing his throat, "If John here is inviting us to hang out with him why not accept it. Since your cousins and what not aren't here yet I'll just stay behind. It'll give you two time to get all best bro like with each other."

That's it. He crossed the damn metaphorical line. Anger welled up in Dave as Bro added a wink to it. Covering his face, Dave kept his cool on the outside but was clawing his eyes out on the inside.

Practically yelling while still keeping his cool, Dave wined to Bro, "God dammit Bro. Don't say shit like that."

That was it. Bro won. He threw his first up in the air and huffed. This all caused John to giggle. A fucking giggle!

John and Dave made arrangements to meet up at the ice cream shop. Dave wanted to get home and leave quickly but as they were walking back Bro spoke up.

"When are you going to fuck 'em?"

"Why do you have to make this so fucking awkward? I only just met the guy." Dave kept his cool this time.

Bro unlocked the front door only glancing at Dave. "Backyard" was all he said as he walked into the house.

Dave grabbed his sword that was lying behind the couch and met Bro out back. Now in this little town they had enough room for a fenced in yard. This have the brothers a more stable place to strife.

"Can we please make this quick? John's still waiting for me you know."

"Fine." His voice was sharp.

Dave stood in a defensive stance as Bro flash stepped to him. Their swords clanked together with a force that would most likely break a normal guys arm. Shit that even hurt Dave's arms. Bro was going harder than normal. Dave had to hold back from the sword actually hitting him. He flash stepped away to get a small breather but it didn't last long with a sword swinging for his head. With a quick duck, Dave nearly didn't made it out alive. He swung back but his got deflected. Bro smirked.

"Don't fuck up. " he flash stepped behind Dave jabbing for the spine but Dave ducked again this time kicking for the legs. To his surprise Bro fell.

"Cheep shot, ass." His sword was stuck in the ground. "If you want to play that way fine. Once you come home strife again. No swords."

This made Dave regret his decision heavily. "Whatever." He walked off into the house taking a quick shower. Once out of the shower Dave dried his hair then went to his room pulling out a pair of swim trunks and a wife beater in his suitcase. He would sometime unpack his clothes but it wasn't important right now. Lastly he put his shades on walking out the door.

His walk was short lived as he met up with John. Something seemed different with him. He was a lot more jittery.

"Sorry I took so long. Bro had to.. Talk to me. Yeah."

This made John shrug. "It's alright! Want to get on the front? I can ride pretty easily with someone up front."

Dave couldn't tell of he could trust him yet but gave into his doubts this one time.

"Okay man."

With a few wobbles here and there John had successful brought Dave to his house. It was about a 5 minute bike ride but the whole way John rambled about how he loved the house. Dave unfortunately found out that John didn't live here all year round as they rode down his gravel driveway. The bike came to a stop making Dave jump off immediately. He made it in one piece. Maybe John wasn't half bad.

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**A/N: **Hey guys! I added a bit of back story to Dave and Bro. Some things for you guys to know is that Dave and John are 17 as of now. Bro is 22. Roxy is 21 and Rose is 16. Dad Strider was a little sneaky bastard. Till next time.


	4. Chapter 4

Once to the summer home, John excitedly showed Dave around. He introduced Dave to his Dad, who was in the kitchen baking. Dad insisted that Dave should stay for dinner and he'd make him a cake for home. John face palmed and pulled Dave out of the kitchen.

"Your Dad's pretty chill, John. He knows how to get to a mans heart." Dave joked.

"Food isn't the only thing to get a guy, Dave." John rolled his eyes.

John walked out to the docks with Dave.

"I don't know about you but it's really hot out." John took off his glasses placing them on the dock then he pulled off his t-shirt putting it next to his glasses. Dave took off his wife beater putting it next to John's stuff.

"Hey, John, think fast."

At the moment Dave pushed John off the dock sending the boy into the water. After a second of shock had passed, John swam up to the surface gasping for air.

"What the fuck was that for!" said John who was still getting his breathing back to normal. A smile was plastered on John's face as he swam up to the dock.

"I dunno man. Felt like it."

Dave hadn't paid John enough attention to see him next to the dock. Before he knew it John had successfully put his hands around his ankles. He pulled as hard as he could causing Dave to fall in next to him. The two swam around the dock for a bit. John got out to go get some circular tubes that were in the shed. They had deflated a bit so John had to fill them up. After a good 5 minutes he came back with the tubes. One red and one green. The two boys fought over the red one but Dave won. John was stuck with the green one.

Sitting on their tubes, the boy hung loosely on the dock sharing things about themselves.

Dave was the first one to speak up. "Why do you only come here in summer?"

John smiled lightly as he splashed the water lightly with his feet. "When I was born my mom wanted to make a tradition for the family to have a little vacation every year. So my parents bought this little house here, a little less than 5 hours away from home, to have some fun during the summer."

Dave nodded. He was relieved to hear that John only lived a few hours away. "That's cool."

John grinned. "So what brings you up to Washington?"

"Bro and I just needed to get away from home. A skip, hop, and a jump and here we are. Small town in the middle of no where." Dave shrugged.

John scooted closer to Dave. "So where did you live before here?"

Dave furrowed his brows. "Houston, Texas."

"Dude that's so cool! I wish I could live in the city. I'm stuck in the snobby suburbs of Seattle." This made John frown.

"Whoa calm down there Egbert. Big cities aren't all made out to what they really are. Especially Houston. It's balls hot. Constantly hearing cars. Bitchy neighbors. It's never quiet."

"Well that's a bummer." John sighed looking up at the sky.

The sun was close to setting and a silence fell on the two boys. Dad came out to the docks calling in the two boys for dinner. They both got out. John pulled on his shirt and glasses waiting for Dave. He put his wife beater back on following the Egberts. Dad had made chicken brushchetta with mozzarella sticks. Dave couldn't believe that Mr. Egbert would make so much good food for only the three of them. They sat at the table besides John.

"What do you guys want to drink?"

"I already have wine. No need to get me anything son." Dad said raising his glass.

"How 'bout you?"

Dave shrugged. "Surprise me."

"Okay!" With that John was off to the kitchen. He came back with two Pepsi cans sitting across from his Dad next to Dave.

Dave frowned. "Shit Pepsi. I guess I should have asked for water or something."

Dad cleared his throat causing Dave to sympathetically smirked at him.

"Sorry." Dave glared at John causing the other boy to chuckle.

"Thanks for the dinner, Mr. Egbert" said Dave to save his ass.

Dad nodded at Dave. After that the three ate in silence for the most part of dinner till John spoke up after eating his chicken.

"If it's cool with my dad you want to spend the night? I mean that is if you like to hang out or whatever?.."

Dave looked up at Dad and John. "I'd have to get some stuff from my house but I guess it's cool. Can I stay?"

The two boys looked at Dad. He smiled at the two. "Sure thing. I can bring you back home so you can pick up some things if you'd like me to."

Dave nodded at Mr. Egbert who asked, "How about after we're done with dinner we head out?"

"Okay."

They finished dinner quickly after that. John cleaned up as the two went out to Mr. Egbert's car. Dave told him the address and Mr. Egbert drove them there.

"This is a wonderful time for me to meet your guardians." said Dad as he turned out of the driveway.

Dave shrugged. "Actually it's just me and my bro who live here."

"Oh.. Sorry about the mix up, Dave." Dad said apologetically.

"It's fine."

The drive to Dave's house was short. Dave pointed out his house to Dad and he pulled up to the house. Once out of the car, Dave warned Dad about how Bro can be a bit on the weird side. He opened the front door.

"Bro I'm home! I'm staying at John's tonight."

Bro was about to say some snide comment to Dave but stopped when he saw Dad. He tipped his hat.

"The names Bro, but you can call me Dirk."

Mr. Egbert tipped his hat back. "Nice to meet you Dirk. I'm Mr. Egbert but everyone calls me Dad." He smiled lightly.

"Hope Dave isn't being too big of a shit to you."

"Oh no no no. He's been wonderful. John seems to really enjoy the company." Dad put his hands up in defense.

"That's a surprise." Bro looked back at Dave who now had an overnight bag in his hands and had changed into a pair of dark red cut off shorts with a black t-shirt that had white broken record on it. Dave glared at him.

"Now go have fun lil man." Bro ruffled up his hair. Dave was pissed and just walked out to the car trying to fix his hair. Dad laughed and said his goodbye to Bro. The two headed back to the house only this time the car ride was silent.

John was sitting on the porch waiting for the two. He had changed into some black basketball shorts and a light blue t-shirt that had a white windy symbol on it. Dad parked the car turning it off. He and Dave got out.

"C'mon Dave," John said as he stood, holding the door open.

Dave smirked and followed John into the house. "Okay okay chill out."

"We're going to be upstairs if you need us Dad." John said as he showed Dave to his room.

Dad grinned, "Sure thing son."

The two sat in John's room. Dave pulled out a apple juice from his bag drinking it nonchalantly. John just rolled his eyes.

John awkwardly spoke up. "So I haven't got much to do here but I promise you it won't be so boring."

"It's whatever. As long as you don't force me to watch some stupid movies or play stupid games I'm pretty much okay." Dave shrugged.

"Oh, alright. Well I do have some video games if you want to look through them." John walked over to closet grabbing out a tub of movies and video games.

"The only thing is that the counsel is in the living room. I'll go get it."

John left Dave in the room to grab it. Dave walked over to the tub. The selection wasn't the best but John was a bit of a different person. At least he had cod. Dave grabbed it out along with left 4 dead. This ought to be fun thought Dave as he placed the two games next to the tv on John's dresser. John came back with his xbox. He hooked it up throwing one of his controllers over to Dave. John put cod in and sat next to Dave.

"Multiplayer or campaign?" He said as he signed in.

"Multiplayer."

"Alright." John started the game, skipping the intro. He opened up the multiplayer lobby.

"Hold up I need to fix some classes." John said as he began fixing changing them. Dave lazily took a few sips of his aj waiting for John.

"There we go." He finished and started a game of team death match on hardcore. The two played for awhile. After 3 or 4 games and quite a few curses later they moved onto left 4 dead.

This made Dave smirk. "You seem a bit hesitant. You scared or somethin?"

John shook his head. "No way man! I just don't like jump scares.."

"You'll be fine." Dave patted his shoulder.

The two started a new game on campaign. Dave took Bill while John got stuck with Zoey. John squirmed a bit as smokers and hunters would come out of nowhere. He screamed when a Boomer spit all over him and multitude of zombies were after him. Dave had to hold back the laughs.

Once they got to a wooded area with a cabin eerie music started to play in the background along with a soft cry. John scooted closer to Dave.

"Shitshitshitshitshit. I hate witches!" John was looking at Dave now.

Dave smiled. "Don't disturb her then." With that Dave walked through the bushes and shown his light all over.

"C'mon Dave! Don't do this."

"Do what?" He shot his gun a few times. The music was getting louder. The sobs turned into a scream as she jumped out of the bushes attacking Dave's character.

"Dude fucking help me!" He tried to get her off.

"HOLY FUCK" John found Dave and started to shoot the witch blindly. After she was killed John refused to play anymore.

"Aww did someone get scared?" Dave tried to speak in a silly mushy voice.

"No! Fuck you.." John got up stretching. He grabbed one of his many blue hoodies.

"Wanna go sit out on the dock?"

Dave stood. "Sure. Do you have another hoodie? I forgot to bring one."

"Oh sure!" John opened his closet pulling out another blue hoodie. Dave put it on following John out to the dock. John had a flashlight with him since it was pitch-black out. He sat at the edge of the dock and turned off the flashlight. Giving time for their eyes to adjust, neither said a word. John closed his eyes listening to the water softly rock the dock. Dave lay back watching the stars. John looked over at him and did the same. It was a new moon so the stars were shinning at their fullest. John slowly looked over at Dave. I

n a whisper he spoke. "Hey Dave? Why are you still wearing those shades?"

Dave sighed softly. " uh.. My eyes are sensitive.."

"It's pitch-black out here. There's no way your eyes could possibly hurt." John leaned on his elbows.

Dave frowned. "If it bothers you so much do something about it."

John sat up. He moved closer to Dave trying to pull off his shades. Dave held John's wrists.

"Dude I didn't actually mean it."

John passed off Dave's comment and continued at his task. He grabbed for the shades multiple times but his efforts were fruitless considering that Dave was so much more muscular. Dave sat up once John gave up. He slowly took off his shades.

"Better?"

John looked up at Dave to see that the shades were gone from his face. It made him look a lot younger. Even in the darkness John could see the little details he couldn't see before like the little freckles that covered his cheeks and how light his eyelashes were compared to his skin. The only thing he couldn't really tell was the color of Dave's eyes. They just looked like they were brown or maybe auburn.

"Was that so hard?" John asked in a mocking tone.

Dave didn't speak for awhile. All he did was look away silently to the water. "Yes."

John took off his glasses. "To make it fair how about I take off my own?"

This made Dave chuckle silently. "Sure." He laid back looking at the stars.

John followed suit and laid back but he couldn't see the stars anymore. They were too blurry but he didn't say anything. His eyes started to feel heavy so he let them rest. The dock creaked and he only figured Dave was just sitting up but something was wrong. There was a heat against his lips that didn't belong to him.

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**A/N: **HAHAHA! Yes a cliff hanger! Since I was gone for longer than normal I made this chapter bit longer. Any who when I was gone I did some geography research. This story will be taking place in Nine Mile Falls, Washington. That's around 4 1/2 hours away from Maple Valley, Washington. Boom real places. Till next time.


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